Farm-gate



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. A. DOWNBY.

FARM GATE. n

No. 605,948 Patented June`21, 1898.

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Nrrn STATES AfrnNr Erich;

ANDREW A. DOVVNEY, OF ARMSTRONG, ILLINOIS.

FARM-GATE.

` SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 605,948, dated June 21, 1898.

Appiioaitu filed september 24,1397. sentira. 652,896. cromati.)

T0 all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, ANDRE W A. DowNnv, of Armstrong, in 'the county of Vermilion and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Farm-Gates, of:

which the following is a specification.

lThis -invention is designed to improve various details in swinging gates adapted to be opened from a vehicle. It is exemplified in the structure hereinafter described,'and it is defined in the appended claim. p

In the drawings forming part of this speciiication, Figure 1 is a perspective representation of so much of a gate as is needed to exemplify my improved opening and closing mechanism. Fig. 2 is a plan of the complete gate. Fig. 3 is aside elevation of a fragment of the gate and a post thereof, showing the latch and catch of the gate. Fig. lis an elevation of a portion of the inner surface of the catch-post, showing the catch in position thereon. Fig. 5 is a perspective representation of one member of the catch.

In constructing a gate in accordance with my invention I set a hinge-post, as' 1, and fasten a cross-head, as 2, on the upper end of the post. The cross-head is hollow or of open structure, and it is preferably supplied with a pair of horizontal pulleys near its center and with a vertical pulley at each end. The

gate a is made of any desired size and in any preferred way, and it is hinged at its upper end to post 1, substantially as shown in Fig. 1. The member 3 of the hinge is screwed into the post or otherwise secured thereto, and its bearing-surface extends upward or in a vertical direction. The member 5 is looped horizontally around the vertical portion ofmember 3, and its ends are made to embrace the upper inner corner of the gate. The distance of the vertical portion of member 3 from post 1 and the length of the loop of member 5 provide for tilting motion in the gate, which is utilized in a manner hereinafter described to detach the gate-latch from its catch.

A post 10 is fixed in the ground on one side. of the hinge-post 1, and a post 12 is set anl equal distance on the opposite side. These posts extend higher than the gate and the hinge-post, and they provide supports on which pivot bars 9 and 11, respectively. The bars terminate above the center of cross-head 2, and a rope or other flexible line runs from the end of one downward through an end of the cross-head obliquely over to the gate,

-thence to and through the opposite end of the cross-head, and thence to the inner end of the opposite bar. The run of the rope is illustrated in Fig. 1, where 8, St, 8b, Se, and S represent the consecutive diversions, and it will be observed in this figure that the rope runs from a bar to the end of the cross-head oppobetween the bars and the sides of the gate,

and when the bolts 7 are tightened the rope is held againstslipping, Whenever the rope through wear or other cause becomes disadj usted, the bars of the loop may be loosened and the rope be shifted over the upper edge of the gate to the proper position to neutralize the disadjustment.

The lower hinge of the gate may be made somewhat as shown in Fig. 1, where 18 represents a fixed memberand 19 a swinging mem'- ber, and the swinging of the gate is effected as follows: A person drives or rides up to a bar 11, for instance, and pulls down on the outer end of the bar through the instrumentality of a depending line or link. The force thus exerted is applied primarily to tilting the gate toward the upper end of the hingepost, thereby raising the latch from contact with the catch, and secondarily to swinging thel gate open in a direction away from the manipulator. The gate stands in a horizontal position when the latch is in engagement with the catch, and its swinging end is raised and the vertical axis shifted when the latch is raised clear of the catch. This develops a tendency in the gate to swing toward the opposite side of the post, and when a very slight pull is exerted through the rope it will swing off a dead-center and under ordinary circumstances open automatically. v In other words, the pull necessary to raise the latchclear of the catch carries the gate to a position from which its natural tendency is to swing open.

IOO

20, having a catch 21, and with one or the other of these catches the latch engages when the gate is opened. In order to close the gate, the latch must be raised clear of the catch, and this is accomplished by tilting the gate upward and so disarrangin g its vertical pivot or hinge line that the gate will tend to swing closed.

The latch and catch are shown in detail in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, and they have the following peculiarities: The latch 111 is connected pivotally with the gate at 17 and its engaging end projects beyond the outer edge of the gate. Its downward motion is limited, it may be moved freely upward, and it is held normally 'in its lowest position. by force of gravity.

The catch is preferably formed of a rod which is bent to form the oblique side loops 15, the central catch-depression 15b, and the postpenetrating points 15. The peints are driven into the post 13, the loops 15a form inclines up which the latch rides in act of closing the gate, and the recess 15b holds the latch and the gate against sidewise motion. As the gate usually closes with considerable force, there is danger of its passing the catch-post and swinging open toward the other side thereof if something is not provided to counteract this tendency. To provide for this, I

place a stop 1G above the center of the catch, with its lower end extended slightly into the recess 15b. This arrests the latch as it passes over the catch, stops the motion of the gate, and causes the latch to drop into the recess, where it is retained by gravity until the gate is raised in the manner described or the latch is raised'by hand, as it can be by pedestrians whenever desired.

The cross head 2 is preferably made of 'metal, and its form and mode of structure may be varied indefinitely so long as the essential features hereinbefore described are preserved.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a swinging gate, the combination of the hinge-post 1 having the cross-head 2, the gate l having the permanent lower hinge 18, 19, the upper hinge composed of the hooked rod 3 attached to the post and the loop 5 engag ing the hooked portion of the rod and fitting on opposite sides of the gate, and the rope eX- tending from the cross-head over the gate and between the gate and the bars of the loop, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I sign my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANDREW A. DOIVNEY.

Attest:

H. RADENNACHER, JOHN WARREN. 

